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(Read Sacred Surrender Part 1 here)
(Read Sacred Surrender Part 2 here)
(Read Sacred Surrender Part 3 here)
Surrendering our whole lives to God may seem scary, but there are blessings that follow surrender. Think about the blessings that came to the biblical characters we talked about in part 2 of this series.
Now, we could certainly make a list of all the things these people endured and suffered after they surrendered to the call of God on their lives. Abraham never owned the land God promised him. Moses never got to set foot in the Promised Land. Ruth had to work hard to provide for herself and her mother-in-law until she married Boaz. Mary watched her Son suffer and die on a cross. Paul was beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, went hungry, and had sleepless nights. So suffering is expected on the road of surrender, but there are also amazing blessings that come with bowing the knee to God in submission.
Abraham became the father of faith as God promised him. And God blessed him materially. Moses became the leader of the Israelites, and God talked to him face to face as a man talks with a friend. Ruth had a son who became the great-grandmother of King David. Mary became the mother of the very Son of God. Paul experienced intimacy with Christ and wrote much of the New Testament.
Again, the ultimate example of surrender is Jesus. In Philippians 2:9-11 we read of the blessings that followed Christ’s act of obedience in the incarnation and the crucifixion. God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. Certainly these are not the blessings we can expect, but the pattern is illustrated in the life of Jesus. Those who humble themselves will be exalted.
5 BLESSINGS
What are the blessings we can expect to follow surrender? No doubt we could name more but there are five blessings:
1.Intimacy with Jesus
This is the highest and best blessing we could ever ask for. Surrender leads to intimacy with Jesus. As we surrender more and more of our lives to Him, we inevitably trust Him more, lean on Him more, and our relationship with Him grows.
2. Filling of the Spirit
The more areas of our lives we surrender to Him, the more room there is for the filling of the Holy Spirit. As we empty ourselves our our desires and plans, surrendering our very lives to Him, we make space for the Spirit to take up residence and do His work.
3. Growth in Christlikeness
As we make space for the Spirit of God, being filled with Him, we exhibit traits of His character. Our lives demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit and others see Christ in us. Transformation is a byproduct of surrender.
4. Greater fruitfulness
The path of surrender leads to a single ambition – pleasing God. When we surrender to God, we align our lives with God’s plan. We open ourselves up to His perfect will for our lives. We become focused.
5. Contentment and joy
This is counter-intuitive. We would assume that living for ourselves and fulfilling our desires would bring us ultimate satisfaction and happiness. But the opposite is true. Only in surrendering to God’s will for our lives will we experience true contentment and joy. This is the paradox of the upside-down kingdom. The path of surrender brings contentment in any and all of life’s circumstances. It brings joy in the midst of really challenging situations. This because surrender is trusting in a Good Father to care for us in every way. A life of surrender is pleasing to God, and it results in the greatest human fulfillment, and will reap ultimate rewards in heaven.
ONE BEAUTIFUL RIGHT
We've talked in this series already about renouncing our rights – those rights we think are ours to cling to, yet really aren’t ours to claim. But there is a verse in Scripture that does speak to a beautiful right that we have.
John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name."
We have one beautiful right. We who have received Jesus have the right to be children of God. We have the right to call God our Father. This is absolutely amazing. The God who sits enthroned in the heavens, sovereignly ruling over all of creation in complete wisdom, holiness and justice, invites us to call Him Father. e invites us into His family. As we lay down all other rights, we can cling firmly to this one. You and I are daughters of the Most High God.
And as children of God, bought with the blood of Christ, we are to live our lives for Him. Second Corinthians 5:15 says, "And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised." Like Paul we can say to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Imagine God handing you a blank piece that represents your life. He's asking you to sign your name on the bottom, hand it back to Him, and let Him fill in the details. Will you do that? If you are ready for sacred surrender, to lay everything down to gain infinitely more, I encourage you to say, “My life is Yours, God.”